Officers Seize Yeast and Sugar from Dry Alaskan Villages

Officers in Hooper Bay are seizing yeast and sugar from people in the dry and predominantly Yup’ik village in Alaska to prevent citizens from brewing their own alcohol, reported the Anchorage Daily News.

Alaskan villages can elect to ban booze as a means of combating an epidemic of alcohol-related injuries and deaths. In Hooper Bay, nine out of ten crime incidents are alcohol-related, Sgt. James Hoelscher told the Anchorage Daily News.

A man recently arrested for possession of high quantities of yeast and sugar claimed he was going to bake bread—a common defense.

“We’ll ask the questions, ‘How much yeast does it take to bake a loaf of bread,’ and you’ll get an answer like, ‘Oh, a cup,’ ” Lt. Christopher Thompson told the Anchorage Daily News. “I mean, it takes like a tablespoon, so that makes no sense.”